


Pave the Way

by couchbarnacle



Series: Pave the Way Series [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Babysitting, Fluff, Gen, Kid!Fic, Kid!John, Teen!Sherlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-08
Updated: 2012-07-08
Packaged: 2017-11-09 11:05:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/454745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/couchbarnacle/pseuds/couchbarnacle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kink Meme Fill for this prompt: Kid John is in love with his babysitter Sherlock </p>
<p>Link here: http://sherlockbbc-fic.livejournal.com/19351.html?thread=115188375#t115188375</p>
<p>Pretty much just some adorable fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pave the Way

“John!” Harry called outside the bathroom door. “What the bloody hell are you doing in there?!”

“Nothing!” He shouted back angrily. “Leave me alone!”

“Get your arse out here, then, you great miniature menace!” Harry said while banging on the old, warped door. “Mum and I are leaving and she wants you to eat your snack before Sherlock gets here.”

“I’m not ready yet!” He yelled again.

He heard his sister groan loudly before stalking off down the hallway. It was Wednesday which John knew was like Monday and Sunday because Harry had to go with Mum to the café to help bus tables. These were John’s favorite days and especially Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, they stayed extra late ‘til almost forever because of karaoke night. That meant that Sherlock, the most amazing boy he’d ever seen, got to stay late tonight. He grinned at his reflection in the mirror before putting the final touches on his outfit and walking proudly out of the bathroom before stomping to the kitchen to show off his new look to his Mum.

“Johnny,” His mum stopped to stare with his plate of iced graham crackers frozen in mid-air as she looked her five year-old son up and down, “What on earth did you do to yourself?”

He didn’t get a chance to answer before Harry burst into the room, took one look at her idiot, younger brother and started guffawing with everything she had. John felt his ears go red and his tummy rumble with irritation and embarrassment as Harry pointed and laughed.

“Oh, that’s just priceless,” She cackled. “Oh, look at him, Mum. What a complete infatuated loser!”

“Harriet Melinda Watson!” His Mum called out loudly poking his stupid-face sister in the shoulder. “Do you want to go to that concert this weekend?! Because I would be more than happy to forbid you to go!”

“Oh, come on!” She drawled, “He looks like a complete wanker.”

John felt angry tears start to form in his eyes and brushed them away quickly with his tiny fists before realizing that he’d just ruined part of his face painting. He looked at the purple streaks on his hand and tried to turn to run back to the bathroom before his mum caught him by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug. He clung to her shirt as she picked him up and placed him gently at the table in front of his afternoon snack.

“Eat your snack, sweetheart.” His mum said softly, “I think you look lovely.”

“Do you think Sherlock will like it?” He asked quietly, keeping his eyes fixed on the graham crackers he was breaking apart morosely with his fingers.

“I think he’ll love it,” His mum said running her fingers through his “expertly-gelled” hair, “Finish your snack dear and I’ll help you properly tie your bowtie.”

“Thanks, Mum.” John said happily.

He spent the next twenty minutes agonizing over his “look” before he heard the doorbell go. He quickly ran to his room and hid behind his door as Harry ran over to fling the door open.

“Oh, you are in for a treat,” She said snidely as Sherlock strode into the room with his school uniform ruffled, his hair artfully tousled and his features set in an exasperated frown at his sister.

“Oh, drinking before noon, Harriet?” Sherlock answered back coolly, “That not really much of a treat so much as a daily occurrence, is it?”

“Fuck off,” She sneered, grabbing her bag and heading out to catch the bus.

“Sherlock!” His mum said happily, pulling the tall boy into a great big hug, “So good to see you! How’s your family?”

“Adequate as always,” He said, dropping his bag on their lumpy couch and smiling politely at his mum.

“Well, thanks again for watching little Johnny.” She said with a wave as she made her way to the door, “He’s around here somewhere. Have a good night and don’t forget that he should be in bed by eight.”

“Of course, Ms. Watson,” Sherlock said with a small smile.

“Bye now!” His mum called out before racing out the door to meet his sister.

John stayed behind his door and watched silently as his babysitter shrugged off his jacket and made his way into the kitchen to get his usual glass of water. John crouched down lower and made his body as tiny as possible as Sherlock peered down the tiny hallway toward his room.

“Hide and seek already?” Sherlock asked calmly. “Usually you help me with my physics first.”

“I’m not a baby!” John called out loudly unable to remain silent. “I’m much too much of an adult to play hide and seek!”

“Oh, I see,” Sherlock said with a grin, “I guess I’ll just have to play with Rupert then. That’s a pity because we all know that cats are notoriously bad at hide and seek.”

“You like hide and seek?” John asked hesitantly.

“Oh, very much,” Sherlock said blandly, “It’s one of my favorite things.”

“It’ll ruin my outfit though!” John called out sadly.

“Well, why don’t you come out so that I can assess the potential damage myself?” Sherlock asked reasonably.

This was it. John sighed heavily and adjusted his bowtie firmly with his fingers. This was it. Sherlock would see his outfit and know that he looked like an adult and think that he was pretty. Because that’s what Harry’s magazines all said. That when you liked a boy, you put on make-up and your best outfit. Sherlock would have to like him back. He took a deep breath and then another one and then another one. And then he got a bit dizzy but shook that off before walking hesitantly out of his room and down the hallway to stand in front of Sherlock who was already sprawled out on the couch. He kept his gaze firmly on the patches on Sherlock’s schoolbag to avoid seeing anything negative in his babysitter’s face.

“Well,” Sherlock said with an amused huff.

“Don’t laugh at me!” John shouted as his heart jumped into his throat and he ran back to his room and slammed the door loudly. He curled up in his bed and wrapped his blanket around himself and cuddled fiercely with his stuffed frog. He wiped his face frantically on his quilt as he heard Sherlock make his way slowly to John’s room and open the door.

“John,” Sherlock said quietly crouching down next to the bed and placing his hand lightly on John’s shoulder, “I wasn’t laughing at you.”

“Yes, you were,” John muttered, “Don’t lie to me. Harry laughed too.”

“Yes, well Harry is about one symptom away from having a serious personality disorder so I think we can both come to a satisfactory conclusion that she’s a terrible reference for what is and what isn’t considered brilliant, don’t you?” Sherlock answered firmly.

“What?” John shifted to look at his babysitter.

“She’s completely barmy,” Sherlock answered with a grin, “Oh, you’ve wiped off all your make-up.”

“It looked stupid,” John answered quietly, rubbing at his face to try and get the rest of it off.

“I didn’t think it looked stupid at all,” Sherlock countered firmly, “You have excellent bone structure and symmetrical features which allows you to wear that amount of make-up with ease.”

“Thanks?” John said sounding both confused and hopeful at the same time.

“You’re very welcome,” Sherlock answered, “Now shall we go fix it and then watch some telly before dinner?”

“Okay!” John said happily, bouncing out of his bed and hurtling himself down the hallway to the bathroom. He crawled onto the counter and began sorting through his mum’s make-up again to pick out colors. He sat silently as Sherlock walked in and began carefully washing the smeared eyeshadow off his face first.

“We’ll start with a fresh palette, shall we?” Sherlock said absent-mindedly. Sherlock worked quickly, picking out colors and gently moving John’s head back and forth to make sure he didn’t stick anything in John’s eye.

“Hey, Sherlock,” John whispered as Sherlock was putting away the supplies neatly back into the drawers.

“Yes?” Sherlock asked.

“I think that you have symmendrigal bone structure too.” John said even more quietly before flushing a deep red.

“Thank you, John,” Sherlock said with a happy smile before gesturing to his face, “What do you think?”

John turned around on the counter to get a good look at the paints and powders on his face. He spent more time glancing at Sherlock’s face in the mirror than studying his own though.

“What do you think?” John asked cautiously.

“I think we’ve paid homage to your features rather well,” Sherlock said, still smiling.

“Good,” John said firmly. He hopped off the counter and made his way confidently to the living room to perch on one of the chairs as Sherlock turned on the telly and pulled out some homework.

“What are you willing to help me with tonight?” Sherlock asked idly, “The Fall of Rome or Cognitive Development?”

“Sherlock,” John said hesitantly, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No,” Sherlock answered, “Why do you ask?”

“Do you have a boyfriend, then?” John asked instead.

“I have a boy that’s a friend,” Sherlock said cautiously, “What brought this on?”

“Just something I read in my sister’s magazines,” John said, “What’s his name?”

“His name is Jim,” Sherlock said quietly.

“You could bring him over if you want,” John said quietly, “I’m sure my mum wouldn’t mind.”

“Jim’s…not the sort of person that I would ever bring around here, John,” Sherlock said awkwardly.

“Are you shamed of me?” John asked quietly, “Harry said that da was shamed of us. That’s why he left. Are you going to leave too?”

“I’m not going to leave you, John,” Sherlock said firmly, “Don’t ever think that. I’m not going to bring Jim around because he doesn’t deserve to know you. You’re better than him.”

“Oh,” John replied, confused.

“Now,” Sherlock said, changing the subject, “Would you like to watch The Adventures of Tintin again?”

“Yeah!” John said excited, letting his heavier thoughts fall away.

They spent the evening either playing pirates or working on Sherlock’s homework. Sherlock conveniently forgot to put the casserole in the oven before seven so they were “forced” to order for a pizza. John fell asleep tucked up into the recliner around 9pm and Sherlock carried him gently to the bathroom to wipe the make-up off gently, claiming that John’s mum would kill him if he let John fall asleep with it still on. He tucked him into bed and was just about to turn on the nightlight when John’s tiny voice called out.

“Do you think that da will come back?” John asked, “If I make him not shamed of me?”

“I think that your father doesn’t deserve you, John,” Sherlock answered seriously, “You are, by far, the most brilliant person I have ever met.”

“I love you, Sherlock,” John breathed, as he yawned heavily.

He fell asleep before Sherlock leaned over to place a light kiss on his blonde curls and whispered back, “And I, you.”


End file.
